Gajevy Love Week 2017
by muddyevil
Summary: My contributions for Gajevy Love Week 2017! Rated M as future prompts will be smutty. Check out fuckyeahgajevy on Tumblr for the prompts and other awesome contributions.
1. AU

Saturday afternoons were the only time in Gajeel's life that had any kind of structure. One pm he would sling his guitar over his back and start the walk down to the centre of town. At quarter to two, he would sit down next to the old fountain, and get set up for his time slot. Saturdays were the only day the council allowed buskers, and it had a waiting list as long as Gajeel's arm to get a slot. He listened to the saxophonist screech for fifteen minutes before the youngster put his instrument back into the case and Gajeel started to play.

He didn't busk for the money. He had a steady job at a good mechanics at the other side of town that not only consumed his time and stopped the boredom but also provided more than enough jewel to keep up with his modest lifestyle. The owner had found him breaking into the garage three years earlier, and it had been the most terrifying moment of Gajeel's life. He still remembered cowering behind an old Jeep, hoping the man wouldn't spot him. But as soon as the man did, he grinned down at Gajeel and offered him a job.

"You managed to open my garage door. That takes at least some talent. Tell you what, I won't turn you over to the police as long as you do some work for me."

It had started off with odd jobs, but slowly Gajeel had learned to fix cars. Metallicana, the owner, had always preferred modern cars but after a few months of tinkering around Gajeel decided that he was more of a fan of the old mechanical workhorses that didn't require any electricity. That was fine with Metallicana, and Gajeel took on any mechanical cars that came in. They were coming in with more and more frequency now, Metalicanna said that the word was getting out about Gajeel's talent with cars, and he made enough to move out of his tiny apartment and into a two bedroom house. So, no. He didn't busk for the money. He busked for the two hours of serenity it gave him in an otherwise chaotic life of oil and metal.

He had a couple of sets that he played, a mixture of just his guitar or him singing alongside it. He did some covers if he particularly liked the melody or the words, but mostly he sang his own songs. He had two hours to fill, and occasionally he would get passersby throwing coins into his guitar case, but mostly he was left undisturbed until the next busker came along. As his fingers started the song that he always finished up with, he closed his eyes to sing along. He hadn't written it, specifically, but he had adapted it for guitar. It was a song that he remembered from when he was a tiny child, and he always ended his sets with it as a strange ritual to finish his two hours of busking and continue with the rest of his life. Usually, he just finished the song, picked up whatever money he had earned before packing his guitar away before nodding at the ancient accordion player who took the slot after his. But today something was different. He heard applause after he strummed out his last chords, something that he rarely heard, and looked up to see someone new.

She was tiny, and to start with he thought she was a child. Bright blue hair poked out from a large woolly hat, and hazel eyes shone out over the top of a matching scarf. She was all wrapped up against the winter weather apart from her hands, which was probably something to do with the violin that was sat in its case in front of her. She couldn't be that young, her proportions were all wrong. She had to be 18 at least. She smiled, and Gajeel hurriedly grabbed the money out of his case - less than usual, probably due to the cold weather - before packing his guitar away. The girl moved seamlessly around him to stand by the fountain and raised her violin to play. Gajeel wasn't usually bothered with the politics of the buskers, so he didn't know why he spoke up. Maybe it was the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, or maybe it was just because she had been the only one ever to applaud him.

"Where's Adam?"

She paused for a second, chin rest pressed into her neck as she held out her left hand to shake his.

"I got told I could take this slot last week. I'm Levy, it's nice to meet you."

Gajeel took her hand in his, almost pulling it back once he felt how cold her fingers were. He smiled as he adjusted the guitar on his back before starting to move away so she could start to play.

"Gajeel. I'll see you next week."

He never usually listened to any of the other buskers, but as soon as she started to play he decided to sit down on one of the benches and watch. The way she played was almost magical, and it mesmerised him. He didn't even notice any of the time passing before she had finished her set and was replaced by a cellist. She packed her violin away, not even recognising he was there as she walked off and Gajeel decided to go and finally start working on the old Defender that had just come into the garage.

* * *

Levy couldn't concentrate on the stack of paperwork in front of her, her eyes flitting from the clock on the wall to the violin case propped up against the door. It was only a five minute walk from her shop to the fountain where she had got her slot to busk, and on quieter days you could hear some of the louder performers. She had applied for the busking license a year before, when her shop was going through a rough patch, but she could still use the extra money. She wasn't expecting much, but even a few pounds could help her out at this moment in time. The office door swung open, and the blonde head of her friend poked through it.

"I don't see any paperwork being done, Levy. What's the point of me being here to help you if you're just gonna stare at the clock all day? Inventory's done, by the way."

Lucy placed a cup of coffee on the desk in front of her, and Levy gladly grabbed at it. She had always drunk black coffee, never really being a fan of the multiple sugars and milk that Lucy ruined hers with. The liquid warmed her inside and out as she sat back from the table and looked at her friend.

"I know… I just can't concentrate. Are you sure you're okay manning the shop while I go and play?"

Lucy grinned, staying by the door so she could keep an eye on the shop while she chatted with the bluenette.

"What? You think I'd deprive this town of hearing your beautiful music? What do you think of me, Ms McGarden?"

Levy could feel herself blushing. She had never really thought she was that talented, but as soon as Lucy had heard her play she never stopped talking about it. Before Lucy the only people she played for were Jet and Droy, and even that was only after they bothered her about it. It was Droy that had convinced her to apply for a busking license, and it was a testament to just how broke she was that she had agreed to it. Her shop just about broke even most months, and any extra she could earn went a long way. She finished up her coffee, noticed it was fifteen minutes until her slot started and stood from her chair. Well, she wasn't getting any work done anyway, she may as well start to walk across to the square. Nerves ate at her stomach as she pulled her violin case over her shoulder and started to head out of the door.

"Have fun! You'll do perfectly!"

She waved at Lucy, not sure she could even speak right now. Hopefully, the cold air would do wonders for her anxiety.

She recognised the man that was playing, he was one of the performers that was often loud enough to be heard from the shop. His guitar was incredible, but his voice left much to be desired. She had never seen him before, but had often imagined what he looked like. Small, probably with a goatee and a velvet suit. That's what most of the people who busked in the town looked like anyway. She shoved her hands in her pockets as she rounded the corner, and stopped in her tracks. He was huge. One of the biggest men she had ever seen, eyes closed as his fingers danced across the strings of his acoustic guitar and his voice sang out words to a song in a language she had never heard. She thought she knew a lot of languages, but not this one. He was wearing a dirty black tank top, and jeans with more tears in them than fabric. It didn't look like he bought them like that, it looked like they had gone through a lot of work especially with the oil wiped down them. He obviously wasn't as bothered by the cold as he was. She set her violin down on a bench while she watched him, and got it out of the case as he sang the song. The melody was beautiful, singing straight to her heart, and it made her forget about the cold. She couldn't stop herself from clapping as soon as the song stopped, and the man looked up at her with surprise. She placed her violin to her neck, anxious to start playing.

"Where's Adam?"

Levy paused. His voice was deep and gravelly, a lot different to the voice he sang in. He looked weirdly angry and she swallowed her anxiety to reply.

"I got told I could take his spot last week." She didn't know what made her introduce herself, but she adjusted her violin so she could hold it with her cheek so she could hold out her hand. "I'm Levy, nice to meet you."

He took her hand in his, and she couldn't help but notice how it dwarfed her fingers. It was warm, obviously, he wasn't affected by the two hours he had spent playing out in the cold.

"Gajeel. I'll see you next week."

Levy blushed as he released her hand, but started to play. It was a mixture of modern and old songs, and she was happy to see a large crowd surrounding her by the time she finished, and a violin case full of coins that she would have to take back and count. Smiling, she packed her violin away and headed back to the shop.

* * *

She didn't know what compelled her to fill two flasks with coffee before she headed to the fountain the next Saturday, but she did. She didn't even know if he liked coffee. Oh well, all the more for her if he didn't. She was already sitting on a bench sipping out of the first flask when she heard the familiar tune of the old song fill her ears. His voice sang above it, rough and scratchy but still soothing. She tapped her fingers on her violin along to the rhythm before clapping again once he had finished. Standing from the bench she walked over, handing him the coffee as she did. He looked confused for a second, before taking a sip and smiling.

"This is good coffee."

She smiled nervously, starting to set up around him as he drank.

"I can't really afford to give you any money, that's the best I can do I'm afraid."

He grunted his appreciation, before moving out of the way so she could start her own set. Levy always closed her eyes when she played, and as so she didn't see him place the empty flask back at her feet and leave before she finished. On top of it was a guitar pick, making her giggle slightly. She hadn't even seen him use one.

* * *

The next six months fell into a kind of routine. Gajeel would pack up something that he had made into a Tupperware box and carry it with him to the fountain. He would play his set, and without fail there would be Levy clapping at the end of his final song before handing him a flask of coffee. It had switched to ice coffee now it was the summer, still just as strong and bitter as it had been in the winter. He would stay and listen to her play, before leaving the empty flask and whatever was in the Tupperware before she finished. She had become a lot more confident in her playing, and Gajeel noticed a regular crowd starting to gather about halfway through his set. They never paid him anything, but he didn't care. He had a brand new reason to busk now.

This particular Saturday she was sat on her particular bench earlier than usual, and he could see people get excited for her to start playing. He moved into his final song, and was about to start singing when he heard the familiar notes of Levy's violin starting to play. He closed his mouth tightly, never missing a beat as Levy's violin weaved a melody over the top of his chords. She made the tune haunting as it danced through his own notes. He almost didn't want the song to end, but as soon as her bow stilled he played three more chords, before stopping and standing up. He took her flask from her hand without speaking, packing up his guitar and walking away to his normal bench to listen to her play. He was there for about an hour before he rooted around in his pocket and pulled out the first piece of paper he could find. Scribbling his number on it, he placed it into the Tupperware box he had filled with Meringues and took it over to her. She didn't pause as he placed the box and the flask on the floor, and retreated back to his garage. He wouldn't be able to work, but there was a punching bag out the back. He'd work out some frustrations before figuring out what the fuck had just happened.

* * *

 **Warm up prompt for Gajevy Love Week 2017! I will be writing a story for each of the prompts (as if I don't have enough on my plate already *sigh*). Check out fuckyeahgajevy on Tumblr for all the prompts and other awesome contributions!**

 **I hate writing AUs. Hope this one worked out alright!**


	2. Matching

Gajeel was hunched over his workbench working on what looked like a long, thin piece of metal when Levy got out of the shower. She jumped onto the bed, not bothering to remove either towel as she sprawled out.

"Hey, Gajeel?"

She got a grunt as a response. It was hard to get anything more out of him while he was working.

"You know it's the guild Halloween party tomorrow?"

Another grunt, but at least this time it was followed up by a more descriptive answer.

"Yeah, what about it Shrimp?"

Levy rolled onto her side, staring at the muscles in his back as he worked. She would never admit it, but she loved watching him.

"Well... are we going?"

He sighed, spinning around in his chair to look at her. He obviously wasn't getting any more work done.

"Of course we are. Guild parties always end in a fight, and that gives me the chance to beat the absolute snot out of Natsu again."

Levy sighed, of course Gajeel wanted to go solely to start fights in the guild. She had to be grateful that he was never actually starting the fights, and just either joining in or, more likely, making them worse. Still, if she wanted to get her own way she needed to do it subtly. If Gajeel knew exactly what she was gunning for he was going to fight it more than if he thought he figured it out by himself.

"Talking of Natsu; him, Lucy, and Happy are going as pirates, that's pretty fun, right?"

Gajeel scoffed, turning back around to his bench and picking up whatever he was working on again. Levy swore under her breath, she was losing his attention and she didn't have time for that. She had to bring up something that would pique his interest.

"Bickslow and Lisanna are going as all one hundred and one Dalmatians."

The idea of Bickslow trying to control ninety-nine souls all evening had amused everyone at the guild when he had so proudly announced it, maybe it would amuse Gajeel too. Lisanna was convinced he wasn't going to be able to do it, but he had assured her he was more than capable.

"Is Lisanna gonna straight up murder a puppy?"

Levy paused, trying to work out what on Earth Gajeel was going on about when he decided to clarify of his own accord.

"Cause she has to kill an animal to claim it's soul and I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a dog one already."

Levy stared at the back of Gajeel's head. She hadn't even thought of that. Lisanna had been moaning at Bickslow for it being unfeasible, but it was intriguing as to what she was going to do as well. She stared at the back of Gajeel's head for a while longer, before realising that she still hadn't convinced him. And she was running out of couples.

"Freed and Mira are going as Victorian vampires. I don't know about Freed but Mira looks incredible!"

Gajeel scoffed again, starting to curl the metal around and around in the shape of a cone.

"That's unoriginal as fuck. Mira can transform into literally anything and she chooses something as boring as that. And Freed dresses up as a Victorian vampire literally every day."

Levy groaned in frustration, falling onto her back again and staring up at the ceiling. She had one more shot at this, and that was it.

"Gray and Juvia are going as Ariel and Eric from The Little Mermaid, but I'm not sure how she's going to cope with being mute for the whole party… it'll be fun finding out, though! She usually can't keep quiet."

Gajeel didn't even turn around but sighed as he dropped his head on the table.

"Shrimp. I'm kinda busy here. Did you have a point to this?"

Levy sighed, rolling out of the bed and heading to get some clothes. Gajeel was an insufferable arsehole most of the time, but today he had really taken the cake.

"Don't worry about it Gajeel. I'm heading to the guild, I'll see you later."

She dressed quickly, throwing on a dress and not even bothering to dry her hair before she stormed out of the door. Hopefully, there was an interesting translation job at the guild to take her mind off what a dick her boyfriend was.

* * *

Levy sighed as she walked back into the house, dumping the bag full of translation materials off her shoulder onto the floor next to her. Lily would moan about it later, but she really wasn't in the mood. It was the day of the halloween party and she hadn't even gotten a costume. Once it was obvious that her and Gajeel would be the only couple not matching, she lost all motivation to do anything at all. She called out but got no response, maybe Gajeel had gone out. It wouldn't surprise her. She kicked off her shoes, walking into the front room and froze.

In the middle of the room was a dress form, made of iron and the perfect replica of her body shape. Hanging off it was simple long, pale blue dress, with a long sleeved white shift underneath and a white apron over the top. Balanced on the top of the form was a simple bow the same material as the dress, and a small note pinned into the shoulder strap. She took a few steps closer, grabbing the note and unpinning it carefully. She saw Gajeel's smooth handwriting, written in Draconic, and read it out loud.

"Put this on"

Levy stripped off right there in the living room, not worrying about anyone seeing her. The house was pretty secluded, and no one would be inside the house who hadn't already seen her in her underwear anyway. She put the dress on quickly, smoothing the apron down on the front and balanced on her tip toes in order to tie her hair back in the bow. She thought her hair would clash against the fabric horribly, but in fact it seemed to set it off well. Gajeel had obviously been hiding some talents from her.

"It would give me great pleasure…"

The voice was deeper than normal, but still unmistakeably Gajeel. Levy spun around, staring at Gajeel who was leaning on the doorframe. He had made his way down the stairs silently, so that she didn't know where he was until he spoke. He was wearing a blue suit trimmed with gold, and the iron cones he had been making yesterday were spiralled on his head as horns. Scales covered his skin to add to the effect, and he bowed down as he continued with the quote.

"… if you would join me for dinner… please."

Levy giggled, making her way over as she continued quoting from her favourite fairy tale. She hoped that Gajeel could remember the correct response, otherwise he could take it the wrong way.

"No, thank you."

He obviously remembered because he swept her up in his arms, kissing her deeply. She returned the kiss as she wrapped her own arms around his neck and pulled him further down. His metal lips were cold and tingled her own, but she still moaned when he pulled away. He produced a book from behind his back, and she could see it was her own copy of the fairy tale. She smiled, popping up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before she heard Lily talk from the left of her.

"It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas, and thinking..."

Levy looked over to see the exceed in his battle form, dressed in a perfect replication of Gaston's outfit from the film. Levy shrieked in excitement, running over to hug him. This was much more than she ever could have imagined.

"Gajeel! These are incredible! Where did you get the costumes from?"

Gajeel smirked as he pulled down a large cloak that she hadn't seen before and draped it over her shoulders.

"I called in a few favours. Did you know Bickslow could sew? I certainly didn't. Come on, we gotta get going or we're gonna be late."

Levy smiled as she pulled the coat around her. This night was perfect.

* * *

The guild was in chaos even by the time Levy got there. There had already been a fight, and Lucy had been forced to get changed when her dress had all but been burned away. As soon as it had calmed even slightly Bickslow and Lisanna had appeared, with all ninety-nine small dog figurines in tow. The figures had run amok for around twenty minutes as Bickslow struggled to keep control until he passed out from the utter lack of magic power and had to be revived by an angelic Wendy. Now there was small dolls scattered around the hall as the five dolls that Bickslow could still keep control over whizzed around the hall shrieking. Mira and Freed had dominated the dance floor, and Levy had tried to get Gajeel up and dancing before deciding to cut her losses. She was sat at a table between Gajeel and Lily, Jet and Droy on the other side of the table dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr Robotnik when the door slammed open.

Everyone's heads turned as a huge hulking mass made it's way through the doors and roared. Silhouetted against the night sky they could see curled horns on his head, and he was covered in fur. As everyone's eyes adjusted, after more than a few people had readied attack spells, the form of Elfman's beast soul became apparent, squeezed into a suit that almost matched Gajeel's perfectly. Not long after Evergreen appeared beside him, her soft yellow dress was perfect, as if it had been designed specifically for her. The straps draped loosely over her arms, baring her shapely shoulders, the bodice fitting tightly over her breasts to her waist before billowing out in a bell around her legs. She had delicate gloves which matched the fabric of the dress and had curled hair held up in a high pony tail. She was subject to a few wolf whistles and even Gajeel had to admit she looked good. He turned around to grab Levy's hand, before immediately panicking when he realised she had gone.

His nose told him she had disappeared down into the depths of the guild's library, and he was about to follow her when he changed his mind. Spinning on his heel he picked up another scent, and ran towards it. He sprang up onto the bar, using the speed to grab a hold of the floor above and pull himself up. Once he was up there he didn't waste his momentum as he ran up the wall and extended iron hooks from his hands to grab hold of the rafters. If it wasn't something he did so often in guild brawls he wouldn't have stood a chance, but he had it practiced down to a fine art. He jumped over a few of the rafters, following his nose until he found who he was looking for.

* * *

Bickslow didn't know what hit him. One minute he was sat in the rafters, giggling at the goings on in the guild with Lisanna and the next he was held by his throat, legs dangling in mid air an awfully long way from the floor. His fake tail hung limply between his legs as his ears flopped and Gajeel didn't think anyone had ever looked more pathetic.

"Bickslow you bastard. Why didn't you tell me they were wearing the same thing."

Bickslow choked for air, and eventually one of the babies floated up to join them when he realised Gajeel wasn't even letting go for him to talk. It spoke in it's creepy little voice, and it almost made the Dragon slayer cringe.

"How should I know?"

Gajeel growled, shadows erupting from around him. Levy was upset, and that was unforgivable.

"You had to make those costumes. They're exactly the same!"

Lisanna had already grabbed onto Gajeel's other arm, trying to pull Bickslow back onto the safety of the rafters but ultimately failing. She kept tugging, shouting to Gajeel as she did.

"Elf's suit is his own magic, and I don't know about Ever but there was no way Bickslow would ever make anything for her. He hates Ever! I'm sorry, Gajeel, I should have warned you it might be something they were going to do."

Gajeel grunted. It was a fair explanation, alright. He dropped Bickslow as he transformed into shadows, anything to get down into the library quicker. He didn't even bother turning around to see the Sieth mage fall.

Levy was sat on a small wooden chair in the library, crying into her apron when Gajeel appeared behind her. She didn't jump, simply wiped her eyes and attempted to smile.

"They're the literal embodiment of Beauty and the Beast, Gajeel. She's gorgeous. And look at me."

Gajeel tsked, kneeling in front of her and picking up his cravatte to wipe some escaped tears from Levy's cheeks. She looked beautiful even after she had been crying, and Gajeel just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and take her home. But that would be admitting defeat.

"I thought Belle was supposed to be clever. And I doubt that bimbo could even read a book."

Levy laughed slightly, causing her to hiccough on her tears. Gajeel stood up, pulling her to her feet as he did and taking a step back to look at her.

"Now. What can we do with this?"

He walked around her a few times, taking in everything he could. Eventually he stood facing her again, a grin splitting across his face. Bringing his hands up he ripped the front of his shirt, revealing iron scales underneath covering his chest and torso. Levy gasped at the destruction of such a beautiful costume before he pulled his hair out of the band that was holding it back and held his arms out for her to inspect.

"I thought Halloween was supposed to be scary, anyway. None of those idiots are scary at all. Not like I am. Now, I do need to work on you. Apocalyptic Beauty and the Beast, what do you say?"

Levy nodded, still giggling as he pulled her apron off, and ripped a large slit up her right leg to the thigh. Touching her arms metal bracers appeared over her forearms, and an iron corset fitted snugly over her torso without being too uncomfortable. He clapped his hands together, pulling them apart to form an elegant metal sword, and Levy knew he was expending a lot of magic energy but at this point she was too engrossed in what he was doing to scold him. Her hands wrote quickly, and dirt appeared on the table in front of them. She'd be punished by Mira, but it wasn't that much of a mess compared to upstairs at the guild anyway. She grabbed it and rubbed it over some of Gajeel's exposed skin and into the cloth of his costume before he did the same to her. She groaned as it found it's way into her hair, but after she caught a glimpse of the effect in the mirror she lost all anger. They both looked like they had been through a war, and it was exactly the effect she had been going for. Gajeel came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Come on, Shrimp. Let's go knock 'em dead."

* * *

 **A/N - As always, huge thanks to Gajeelswoman for beta-ing this for me and never questioning when I send her the weirdest questions. Her version of this prompt is adorable and definitely shouldn't be missed!**


	3. Longing

Day seventy-six of Gajeel's latest S-Class mission was just the same as the previous seventy-five days. She woke up as soon as her body told her it wasn't tired anymore and didn't know whether that was better or worse than when Gajeel was around. On the one hand, she wasn't awoken as soon as the Dragon Slayer got up to train, but on the other, she wasn't waking to his arms wrapped around her and squeezing her to his chest. She would do her morning stretches completely naked, she had to admit that was nice, and head off to the shower.

The shower, too, was a different experience alone. It was much quicker, sure, but then again she missed the times she was pinned up against the wall, screaming into the water as Gajeel moved inside her expertly, drawing out any sound he wanted from her. Then it was time for her to throw on whichever clothes were washed, she did miss Lily and the military way he ran the house, and head out to the guild.

She had wanted to go with him, of course she did. But even she had to admit it was too dangerous. She really wasn't suited to infiltrating a dark guild, but Gajeel and Lily? They could be scary. They _were_ scary, to most people outside of Fairy Tail anyway. It wasn't made any better by the fact they couldn't communicate back often, and when they did it was usually a one or two minute conversation on a payphone when they could get away. Levy would never be able to describe the empty feeling in her chest whenever she realised she had missed one of their calls. As she walked along the long cobbled road to the guild, she missed the feeling of his arm wrapped around her, and even though they usually walked in a comfortable silence she yearned for the occasional snippets of conversation that came along with it, or even just the bickering between the two men she lived with.

* * *

"Have you heard anything, Levy?"

Mirajane stood behind the bar, as usual, washing a beer stein as Levy worked on her latest translation job. The script mage had moved to the bar from the library eight days into Gajeel's mission, finding she was no longer able to work in complete silence. When Gajeel was here they would sit at a table in the corner of the main hall, and if they were at home he would be tinkering with something on his workbench. She never thought she would say she found the silence of the library deafening, but she did. Not even the subtle scratching of Freed's pen as he worked on his runes could keep her sane when he was even there at all. She looked up from the tablet she was busy translating, taking a sip of her drink as she did. She knew Mira was only trying to give her a break every now and then.

"Not since he left Redwater last week. He's had to go deep undercover again and can't risk anyone finding out he's calling home."

Mirajane nodded, she herself knowing the pains of S-Class requests. The other woman had been there to remove Gajeel's guild emblem the day that he went and had witnessed Levy's tears as her husband and his exceed walked out of the town. To the demon's credit she had never said a word, just pulled Levy close to her every time the tears had returned.

"I heard from Team Natsu earlier this morning. They're heading back and should be arriving some time on Tuesday."

Levy smiled. The last week had been especially quiet, what with the lack of the loudest team in the guild running around and causing havoc. It was when it was quiet like this that the loneliness really did hit her. The whole guild was her family, of course. But she really missed those closest to her whenever they were gone.

"And I heard from Jet and Droy. Their message has been delivered and they're on the way home. They'll be back on Thursday at the latest."

Mira put down the beer stein and leant on the bar, glancing around the hall as she did. It was definitely quiet, most of the guild were away on jobs for some reason or another. All of the Raijinshuu were off with their leader doing a mission they had been specifically requested for, and even Cana had disappeared off to the Quattro Cerberus. It was probably the quietest that Mira had ever seen the guild, and that was saying something.

"Have you seen any missions that you might be interested in?"

Levy sighed, reaching her hand out to touch the takeover mage's. She knew Mira was worried about her, but really she was fine.

"You know I have more than enough translation jobs to keep me occupied here. I'm fine, Mira. Honestly. You'll be the first person I'll come to if I have any problems."

The older woman pursed her lips, before picking up another glass to clean it for what Levy was sure was the eighteenth time. Levy smiled, picking up her own pen and going back to the translation. Just a few hours longer and she was going to crack it, she was sure.

* * *

One thing that Levy really did miss was the muscle Gajeel provided. Despite the little trolley she had found to pull her books along, it didn't equate to anywhere near the ease getting her Dragon Slayer to carry everything provided. She was always exhausted by the time she got home, but still she would change into gym clothes, strap on gloves and head into her husband's home gym. There was no chance she was going to fall out of practice while he was gone, and let him wipe the floor with her when he got back. After about half an hour of sparring with the punch bag he kept there she would collapse to the floor, breathing heavily as she did. She was getting out of practice with her offensive magic spells, she knew, just like she knew she should ask one of her other guildmates to help her with that but she always felt so odd training with someone else. She rolled onto her front, pushing herself to her feet and going to take her second shower of the day.

It was always part way through the second shower that her mind tended to wander to less than innocent places. She wasn't sure if it was the heat of the water flowing over her, or the time of day, but for the last seventy-six days it had been during this shower that her hand tended to wander south and she found herself thinking of Gajeel. Her fingers were nowhere near as skilled as his, and the lack of surprise definitely took a little something away, but she still always managed to finish herself off and leave herself breathless leaning against the wall of the shower stall.

After her shower she would wrap herself in one of the huge fluffy towels she had bought as soon as she had moved in, and head off to the bedroom. She had never been one for drying her hair before bed, and simply allowed herself to collapse into the heap of blankets as soon as her body was dry. She would tug the small Gajeel doll Juvia had made for her to her side, curling herself around it like it was the man himself. It was when she was huddled in the blankets, long since devoid of any of Gajeel's scent, that she finally let the tears overcome her. Tomorrow would be number seventy-seven without Gajeel. And she knew it would be just as lonely as the first.


	4. Pillow Talk

If someone were to ask Gajeel when Levy was the most beautiful, they would get one of two answers. The first would be a punch to the face and the second, if he had consumed enough alcohol, would be straight after they'd had sex. Gajeel didn't know why this was a thing that he shouldn't tell Levy, but apparently it was. She was lay on his chest, right arm slung across him, hair tousled and blush covering her face from the utter exhaustion. The blush had deepened at his comment and she squeaked in embarrassment as he chuckled at her reaction.

"You've never actually told anyone that… right?"

Gajeel grinned. She really was cute when she was flustered. He leant down to press a kiss against her forehead, and as soon as she was pinned tightly against him he found it safe enough to reply.

"Only one person. What can I say, I was very drunk at the time."

Levy twisted to look up at him, unable to move any further due to the arm crushing her to his side.

"What!? Who was it?"

Gajeel brought up his spare arm, using it to trace across her jaw, down her neck and to the top of her chest. Of course he wouldn't have told anyone that Levy would have been uncomfortable with them knowing. Then again, he had been more than a little worse for wear that night.

"Relax, Shrimp. It was only Cana. She knows much worse stuff about us."

Levy puffed out her cheeks, a sure sign that she was chuckled again, prodding at her cheek with his spare hand. She buried her head back into his chest, stopping him from seeing her blush, before giving up and pulling away entirely. As soon as Gajeel realised that she was genuinely trying to pull away from him he let her go, watching in worry as she pulled the blanket up and over her face as she kept her back to him. She was there for a few moments, chest heaving steadily from her breathing, before he worked up the courage to talk to her.

"Lev? I'm sorry, I didn't…"

The pillow to his face was a surprise, for sure. She had moved so quickly he hadn't even noticed, and it wasn't until the fabric of one of the many pillows on his bed collided with his head that he realised she had even shifted an inch. He coughed in surprise as she struggled to her knees, towering over him with the offending item in her hands. After a few moments of staring at each other, both completely naked, a grin split across Gajeel's face.

"Oh, is that how ya wanna play it, Shrimp?"

His hands found their way to grab a hold of the pillow under his own head, and in one smooth motion he had brought it in front of him to smack into her torso. She was shoved back with the force of the hit, and ended up landing on her backside on the bed. She squealed in shock, throwing her own pillow in front of her, and Gajeel paused for a second to check she was ok before his own laugh filled the room. He grabbed the two pillows back, scrambling up the bed in order to hoard them behind him. Levy looked on in annoyance, puffing her cheeks out again as she scrambled backwards to try and get some distance between them.

"What ya gonna do now then, Shortstuff? You've lost all your ammunition."

He picked up one of the larger pillows, almost as big as Levy herself, and swung it in front of him making sure not to let go. It collided with her shoulder, making her tumble sideways onto the bed and he pulled it back quickly to ensure she didn't get any of her own weapons. He grinned widely as she stood to her feet, hands on hips and looking ready for battle. Her right hand shot up in front of her, moving impossibly fast in the air as she worked her magic.

"Solid Script: Pillows!"

Six pillows all appeared out of nowhere, and she was wickedly fast in grabbing them out of the air and flinging them at him. As soon as their target had been successfully hit they disappeared. She had obviously learned not to allow him any munitions. Gajeel recovered from the shock, turning to grab another pillow but by the time he looked again she was gone. He cursed under his breath, but it was playful. He wanted to see how long this would go on for.

When Lily got back home from the guild everything seemed normal. It was quiet, sure, but then again it often was. Levy would be reading, and Gajeel would either be sleeping or working on something on his workbench. As he walked through the hallway he tripped over one of Levy's shirts and sighed. Oh. That's what they had been doing when they left the guild hall earlier. In that case it was completely possible they were both asleep. He picked up the offending blouse, meaning to carry it up the stairs when there was a crash from the kitchen.

He shifted into his battle form, immediately alert and ready to fight off any intruders. His senses picked up, but he couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary or hear any sound coming from anywhere. Being sure to sneak as quietly as possible he made his way to the kitchen doorway, and risked a peek inside.

The first thing he saw was the dining table laying on its side, chairs scattered all around it and one of them almost completely smashed apart. He was about to turn around and check the corner before Gajeel stood up from behind the table, screamed a war cry, and threw what appeared to be a pillow at Lily's face. The Dragon Slayer froze as soon as he realised exactly who his target was, but didn't bother to cover himself as he straightened up.

"Shit. Hey Lil."

Pantherlily couldn't have stopped himself from burying his face in his hands if he tried.

"What on Earthland are you doing, Gajeel?"

The Dragon Slayer started to move to pick up his pillows. It wasn't out of any attempt to be tidy, Lily knew, but rather something inside of him knowing he had to return them to his nest.

"We were having a pillow fight."

Lily sighed again. It didn't take a genius to figure that out, but obviously Gajeel thought he needed it spelled out for him.

"I can see that, Gajeel. Where is Levy?"

Gajeel paused in his tidying, sniffing the air to try and find his opponent.

"I'm pretty sure she's in the cupboard over there."

Lily could hear a squeak coming from the cupboard in question, more than big enough for Levy to hide in with a few pillows for ammunition.

"Please don't open the door."

Lily simply turned around, dropping Levy's blouse to the floor before walking out of the kitchen.

"I'm going back to the guild for an hour, please make sure the house is in an acceptable condition before I get back"

He heard two mumbles of agreement, but he wasn't even out the door before the giggling started.

* * *

 **A/N - I completely forgot I hadn't uploaded these here! So here, have a week or so worth of content in a day!**


	5. Trouble Twins

"C'mon! They're supposed to be just in here!"

Shutora's voice was hushed as they crept through the empty apartment. Getting in had been easy with the shadow magic they had been practising with their father, much easier than they had expected anyway. The door had opened to a large living space, a kitchen to the left and four doors across the large living room in the middle. The door to the far left was their aim, and they made their way to the goal. The whole apartment was filled with the scent of it's occupants, along with the various visitors. They obviously entertained often because the twins had trouble discerning individual scents even with their heightened sense of smell. With one hand on the door Yaje took a deep breath, before slowly opening it and stepping inside.

The office was huge, but they hadn't expected anything less. Looking across at his sister Yaje could see the excitement sparkling in her eyes that mirrored that which he felt leaping in his soul. There was just something so _fun_ about sneaking into places, and it wasn't as if they were hurting anyone, right? Shutora ran over to the closest bookshelf, running her fingers along the spine until she found the ones they were looking for.

"Yaje! They're here! C'mon, help me grab 'em!"

Yaje sprinted across the room to join his sister, excitement taking over their need to be stealthy. There was no one here, anyway. It would have been easy to hear or smell them if they were. He grabbed the bag he was carrying and opened it up, waiting for Shutora to start filling it up with the books when he was proved very wrong.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The voice was the one they feared hearing the most. Despite how familiar it was to them it still had an underlying tone of menace that sent shivers down their spines. They turned slowly as the light flickered on and they had to hasten to cover their eyes until they adjusted.

Their mother was sat at the desk in the corner of the room, the rune trap that surrounded her and the other man inside to keep them both hidden still falling as they watched. A look of disapproval was plastered across her face, and she tapped her fingers rhythmically on the wood. To her left stood Freed, face perfect devoid of any emotion as he rested his hand on his rapier. The two twins looked at each other, before attempting to sprint from the room. They didn't get far before another trap erupted around them, and they were forced once again to face their mother.

"Thank you, Freed. Now could I have a moment with my children, please?"

The rune mage nodded, stepping through his own runes easily as he exited his office, although they could hear him turn on a Lacrima to heat water they assumed was for coffee. The twins looked at each other, worry crossing their faces. They'd never smelt their mother quite this angry before.

"Now, Shutora. Could you tell me the rules of the trap you're in?"

The girl looked at her brother in hope. Freed hadn't added any runes in to display the rules, and so she was floundering. Yaje had picked up runes much quicker than she had, and she always relied on him to translate them. The boy studied them for a moment, before he spoke.

"Those in this…"

"Are you Shutora?" Levy's voice was clipped and to the point. Wow. They'd really fucked up. "I know you can translate them. I want her to."

Trust their mother to turn their scolding into a learning opportunity. Shutora looked up at the wall of shimmering runes in front of her and slowly started to read.

"Those in this trap shall… tell the truth… if a… lie… is spoken then… it shall be exposed."

She looked at her brother to see her own grim expression mirrored on his face. They'd never been put into truth runes before. Maybe they had gone too far.

"Now. Let's start at the beginning, shall we? All of those weapons and armour that went missing from Erza's collection, was that anything to do with you?"

Just because they were in truth runes, didn't mean they had to speak. If they kept silent maybe they could still…

Before they could complete their train of thought numbers appeared in front of them, slowly ticking down from thirty. Yaje searched the runes, looking for the consequence of running out of time but it was no use. Some of these runes were just too complex. He didn't have to wait long though, for as soon as the numbers hit zero he and his sister simultaneously began to speak.

"Some of those weapons are Damascus steel, and very sweet." As soon as they realised their mouths were running away from them they clasped their hands over them but it wasn't enough. Their lips continued to move without their permission, only slightly muffling their words. "It's just too hard to resist them sometimes."

As soon as their answers were finished a marker appeared above their heads, and Levy spoke to explain it.

"Every time an answer is forced out of you it will be marked. The higher the number, the worse your punishment shall be."

The twins stared at their mother, before Shutora slumped down onto the floor. Yaje remained standing, still defiant despite the fear he felt inside. His mother sure was scary.

"You guys are ten. At your age I was out taking jobs. You need to take some responsibility for your actions. Now. Lucy's keys turning up at the top of the cathedral before she had to go on a mission, was that you as well?"

The numbers began to tick, but didn't even get to twenty-five before Shutora nodded and they stopped.

"How about the time Evergreen's glasses disappeared overnight and Elfman was stone for three hours?"

Shutora nodded again, but Yaje had to open his mouth at that one.

"It wasn't three hours! It was thirty minutes at the most!"

His protests were silenced by a withering look from Levy, and he sat down heavily on the floor next to his sister.

"Anything else you want to confess to? You'll reduce your punishment if I don't specifically have to ask."

The Twins looked at each other, before all of their sins came pouring out.

"Remember that time when Natsu woke up on the roller coaster in town and was stuck there all afternoon? We snuck him up there with our shadows."

"And that time when Cobra couldn't hear for three days was because we set off the fire alarm while him and Kinana were in her apartment and it deafened him"

"And when Bacchus and Cana couldn't get drunk it's because we put a sobering rune on them"

"Really, Mum, you should be glad that we've been practising our magic. We haven't hurt anyone."

The last comment was from Yaje, and Levy sighed that he was already old enough to be sassing her back. Where had her babies gone?

"Yes. I'm very proud of you for practising your magic, but this is not the way to go about it."

The twins both looked at the floor, and it took all of Levy's willpower not to go and hug them. But they still needed to be punished for the havoc they had caused over the last couple of weeks.

"And you got the sobering rune from sneaking into Freed's office and stealing his notebooks?"

The twins looked at each other, eyes sparkling as they realised they had been given the perfect way out. They both nodded quickly, before sighing when the runes around them flashed red and the number above both of their heads shot up to five. Levy gave them _that_ look that she always gave them, and Shutora nudged at the carpet with the toe of her boot.

"No… someone asked us to steal the books for them."

Levy sighed. She was sure there was someone else involved, stealing Freed's notebooks wasn't chaotic enough for them. And plus she was sure her children were smart enough to know they'd have tracking runes on them. Something they wouldn't need to worry about if they were passed on before Freed noticed them missing.

"Who was it, guys?"

Shutora held her mouth tightly closed. She felt loyalty to their co-conspirator, and surely she would look better in his eyes if the answer was forced out of her? Yaje had no such loyalty. He figured if he spilt the beans he'd be let off lighter, right?

"Uncle Bickslow. He told us what to do to annoy people the most and in return we get things for him."

The runes stayed purple, but Levy didn't need their confirmation to know her son was telling the truth. Now she thought about it this whole thing had Bickslow written all over it.

"FUCKING SNITCHES!"

The voice came from above them, and all three Redfoxes looked up to see a man dropping down from his position on the roof. He'd obviously been hiding amongst the rafters, probably even before Levy and Freed had snuck into the room, but now he rolled on the floor and started to run. Levy was about to shout after him about his foul language before he threw out his left hand and within seconds five notebooks were following behind him. He was out the door in a few long steps, cackling maniacally. He'd gotten what he needed, anyway.

The Twins stared at their mother, wondering why she wasn't going after the worst offender. She could take him down any day! They were further confused when Freed came into the office, walking over to Levy to perch on the edge of the desk.

"Why aren't you guys going after him! You've set all this up and now you're just letting him get away?"

Yaje couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. There had been whispers around the guild about what had happened the last time Freed and Bickslow fought each other, many years before the twins were even born, and he wanted to see it for himself. His mother smirked at him, almost as if she'd read his mind.

"Oh, don't worry. Your father's outside."

Even Freed grinned then, something that looked completely out of place on his face, as the twins excitement picked up again. Watching their Daddy fight was always the best. Runes started to glow around them, and Freed finally spoke up.

"Come on, Levy, or we're going to miss it."

The twins didn't think they'd miss anything as their ears picked up the sound of Bickslow shrieking in the distance.


	6. First Date

"So where is Gajeel-kun taking you, Levy-chan?"

The majority of the females in Fairy Tail were crammed into Levy's small apartment, as Mira and Lucy rifled through her wardrobe. The script mage herself was sandwiched between Juvia and Lisanna on her bed, as Cana and Erza sat on the floor waiting for their opportunity to weigh in their opinions on any outfit choice. Levy turned at Juvia's question, blushing as she did.

"I don't actually know… He's told me that he is going to pick me up at eight tonight, and that I should be ready for then."

Seeing as it was currently midday, Levy didn't think that she needed to start getting ready for at least another six hours, but the girls had other ideas as soon as she told them. At her answer Juvia practically attacked her, wrapping her arms around the smaller bluenette and squealing in her ear.

"Juvia remembers her and Gray-sama's first date! Gray-sama took Juvia to a lake just south of Fiore, and he used his ice magic to freeze it and we went ice-skating even though it was July! Juvia thought it was magical!"

Levy blushed. It didn't take much to get Juvia started on her relationship with Gray, and she should have predicted that the fact she had a date would set the water mage off again. Mira pulled a dress out of the wardrobe, showing it to Levy before the script mage shook her head. She hadn't fitted in that dress for a few years. Contrary to popular belief, she had actually grown since she was twelve. The takeover mage sighed, dropping the dress to the floor before disappearing back into Levy's scant clothes stash.

"You know, we're probably going to have to go shopping. There's just nothing here Levy can wear out on a date. At least Freed had the decency to give me some sort of warning so I knew what to wear."

Lucy popped her head out of the wardrobe, holding a pair of jeans in her hand that she held up for consideration.

"What did you and Freed fo on your first date, Mira?"

The takeover mage reappeared from the depths of the wardrobe empty-handed. The look in her eyes was almost as dreamy as Juvia's as she remembered her own first date.

"Freed took us dancing in Crocus. It was a royal ball that he got invited to after doing a job for the king and we danced all night long."

Cana smirked, grabbing her bottle of liquor from the floor and taking a swig out of it.

"You know we really could have guessed that you and that geek would have gone on such a boring date."

Mira pouted at the drunk, before opening her mouth to respond.

"At least my first date wasn't just getting drunk in a bar like every other day."

Cana just laughed back as Mira disappeared back into the wardrobe. If she was bothered by Mira's insult she didn't show it, and simply went back to drinking. Levy looked between all of the girls in her room before speaking.

"If I'm honest, I can't see Gajeel taking me ice skating or dancing, and I hope he's not taking me to a bar… Maybe I will get away with just the jeans?"

The jeans in question were definitely not casual, and paired with a nice top could pass as date wear. Lisanna grabbed them off Lucy, and added them to the pile for further consideration.

"My first date with Jellal was on a mission, maybe he's going to take you to do a job?"

Lucy nodded at Erza's story, giving up on dresses and looking for tops she could pair either with the jeans or with one of the skirts she had found.

"That's exactly what Natsu did. I didn't even realise he meant it as a date until he was bragging about it to Gray later on."

Levy grabbed a shirt that was thrown at her, a simple black blouse that had ruffles around the chest to try to accentuate her breasts. She remembered the kind of jobs Gajeel tended to go on, and couldn't imagine joining him in the types of clothes they were suggesting she wore. She really did hope that he knew better than to do that. In fact, none of the dates that her friends had described were really appealing to her. There was always Lisanna's first date, but she really wasn't holding out for whatever Bickslow had planned to be that much better.

"Lis? How about you and Bickslow, what did you do as your first date?"

The younger takeover mage blushed, pausing in her job of pairing tops and bottoms together to make whole outfits for consideration.

"Well… Bickslow and I have never really had a date. He either turns up and we do whatever comes to mind or we just stay in and…"

"Nope! Nope, nope nope." Mira pulled back from the wardrobe with a final top in her hands, before heading over to the bed. "I do not want to know what you and Bickslow do. Now, Levy. Let's get trying some of these on."

They had finally settled on a black blouse and jeans, something that was nice enough if Gajeel decided to take them to a fancy restaurant but casual enough if they just wanted to a bar. Erza had leant her a scarf that was knotted around her neck, and Cancer had put her hair up in a bun. Mira and Lisanna had fussed around with her face, arguing how much make-up they should be putting on her before settling for something very minimal. Juvia had finally shooed them out of the apartment at ten minutes to eight, and Levy found herself pacing her front room while waiting for Gajeel to appear. The clock on her wall clicked forward for the ten minutes, and as soon as the second hand turned to eight o'clock, she heard three raps on the door. Levy smirked. She wondered whether Gajeel had been stood outside staring at his watch until the exact second before knocking. Swallowing down the last of her nerves, she headed over to the door, took a deep breath and opening the door to her Dragon Slayer.

Gajeel was stood outside her apartment, dressed in jeans and a button down shirt, and handed Levy a bunch of forget-me-nots the exact same colour of her hair without saying a word. Levy smiled again at the blush across Gajeel's face as he refused to look at her. Levy took the flowers as she opened the door wider to let Gajeel in.

"Good evening, Gajeel. Do you want a cup of tea while I find a vase for these?"

Gajeel stepped through her door, but still looked awkward as he stood next to her desk and absentmindedly move papers around as Levy headed to the kitchen.

"No, thank you. We'll have a drink where we're going. Are you ready?"

Levy reappeared from the kitchen with the flowers in a small jar, placed them on the desk and grabbed Gajeel's arm while they both headed to the door.

Gajeel kept quiet about where they were going all the way along the main high street of Fiore. They passed the many bars and restaurants that lined the street, and headed further along to where the buildings shifted more to shops than places to eat. They walked along in silence, Gajeel wringing his hands as he walked along. Levy never would have thought that she would have been the least nervous on their date. As Gajeel peeled off and moved down a side alleyway her brain was moving at a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out what was going on. She tried to remember the shops that were down here, but all she could think off were the small cafe, the tattoo studio and a small independent bookshop that sold specialist books that Levy couldn't even dream of affording. Was Gajeel going to take her to get a tattoo, or a piercing? She had to admit that was a very Gajeel thing…

Levy was pulled out of her thoughts when Gajeel produced a key from his pocket to open up the shutters to the book shop. As soon as they had hit the top of their runners he proceeded to open the door and let them both in.

"Uh, Gajeel?"

The iron Dragon slayer didn't reply as he flicked on the lights and relocked the door behind them. He disappeared behind the counter for a second, heading through a door to the back room before returning with a thermos flask full of what smelt like coffee. As he poured out the almost black liquid into two mugs he'd retrieved from under the counter he finally started to provide Levy with some answers.

"I saved the owner's daughter from a dark guild a couple of months ago. Despite owning this place he didn't have any money to pay for a reward, so I just left it with him owing me a favour. Now he can't spare any of the books to give to you on a permanent basis but we're free to come in here whenever we want." Disappearing back under the counter he came back up with a notepad and pen, and pulled her gale force reading glasses out of his coat. He must have pocketed them when she went into the kitchen at her apartment. "I thought you might need these."

The rest of the date ended up with Levy surrounded by incredibly rare books, and Gajeel sitting to the side and just observing her. Occasionally he would get up and provide her with more coffee, but for the most part he just watched her face light up as she found something interesting and scribbled it down in her notepad. It wasn't a conventional date, sure, and he knew she would be feeling guilty about ignoring him in the morning (which at this point was only about two hours away) but for Gajeel, this was perfect. Despite her silence, being able to spend time with his shrimp was more than enough for him.


	7. Grief

This job wasn't _supposed_ to end up in a battle situation. If it was, he would never have allowed her to come along. Or he would have brought more back up, or… something. There was no use going over ifs and buts now, anyway. He had made a mistake, and now he was paying for it. Shit. The gun mage he was facing fired out another shot that rang just left of his ear and he swore, shooting out a pole made of pure iron and aiming it at his attacker. It missed, just like every other attack he had sent over at the man. Whatever magic he used it obviously allowed him to see whatever move Gajeel was about to make before he even made it. But he didn't have to beat him. He just had to hold him off long enough for Levy to escape. Lily was fighting another mage to his right, and Jet and Droy were battling one to his left. He'd sent his little shrimp away from the mansion as soon as the dark guild had appeared, instructing her to _leave the translated book there_. These men weren't after her, they were after the book. And this would all be in vain if they followed her as she tried to escape with the book.

Gajeel feinted right as he tried to get up closer to the dark mage, using another pole to try and hit him but again the man dodged and jumped backwards. Gajeel planted his feet, preparing to use his breath attack but the man took another shot before he could even build it up. How did the Salamander beat that other Dragon Slayer that could hear his thoughts? Fuck, he could never remember. Dodging another bullet aimed at his head he planted his feet to shoot demon logs at the mage before something came barrelling from his right and pushed him to the floor. Opening his eyes from the impact he saw the wood-make mage Lily had been fighting had gotten an attack past the exceed, which had collided with Gajeel to stop the Dragon Slayer's attack. Fuck. He didn't have long before the gun mage reloaded…

His ears picked up the click of the trigger and the small explosion that sent the bullet firing towards him. He had mere seconds to get up off the floor before the bullet collided with him, and he had a feeling this time the other mage wasn't going to miss. He was a sitting duck here. A small voice told him in the back of his head that he wasn't going to make it up in time so he took defensive maneuvers instead. Shifting his skin to iron scales that he hoped were bullet proof he instinctively closed his eyes and waited for the shot to hit him.

"Solid Script: Guard!"

He didn't have time to open his eyes before he heard what sounded like glass shattering, and then the indescribable tone of metal piercing flesh. He had heard it many times before, he knew what it sounded like. Next came the noise of metal hitting bone, chipping off a shard before it exited skin the other side. The last noise was paired with a sharp pain in his stomach. He finally opened his eyes, looking down to see where the bullet lay lodged in his scales. Looked like they were bullet proof after all, but only when Levy's solid script lessened the impact. He grinned, looking up to his little Shrimp to thank her, before chastising her for coming back.

Levy was stood in front of him, the remains of a word flickering out of existence around her. The noises had obviously been the word breaking down, but it was odd that it sounded like the bullet hit a person. Until he noticed the slow spread of red across her orange dress. The next noise to enter his ears was the cackling laughter of the dark mage as Levy took two steps back and collapsed to the floor.

Blood was already leaking from her mouth when Gajeel had made his way over to her, and she looked up at him with tears in her hazel eyes.

"Huh, guess I miscalculated that one, eh?"

A chuckle escaped her mouth before her eyes closed and Gajeel heard her heartbeat slow. Rage encompassed him and he was about to stand up and attack the dark mage again before a flash of orange appeared in front of his vision and he looked up to see Jet standing between him and the gun magician.

"Gajeel! What are you doing, get her out of there! We'll handle things here!"

The end of the sentence was almost inaudible even to his sensitive ears as Gajeel pulled himself and Levy into shadows, and shot across the landscape to the nearest town.

He knew why he wasn't allowed into the operating theatre, but that didn't make it any better. He could still hear the beeping of machinery mirroring the steady heart beat deep in Levy's chest as the surgeons operated on her, beating out a steady rhythm to his thoughts. He had tried to close his eyes, but all that he could see behind his eyelids was Levy lying in the mud, eyes closed and a red river of blood streaming from her mouth. He tried not to think of how he was going to tell her that her two best friends hadn't made it out of the battle, or that Lily was lay in a hospital bed in another part of the hospital after collapsing when he made it back with the news. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.

He watched the clock at the other end of the corridor, counting how many heartbeats came in each second. It hypnotised him to the point he didn't even notice they were slowing down until a high pitched wail coming from one of the machines in the wall behind him forced him to cover his ears with his hands and grunt in pain. Behind his closed eyelids he could see nothing but a white light as that noise blocked his consciousness, stopping him from hearing Levy's heartbeat, stopping his one life line to her. He heard the shouting of surgeons over the top of the wail before they all died down, and finally after felt like hours the wail cut off.

He sharpened his hearing to try and pick out that heartbeat, regain that link to the small bluenette in the room behind him. The siren must have done some pretty irreparable damage to his ears because he couldn't pick it up. The loudest noise he could hear was the steps of one of the nurses heading to the door. It was then he realised that he could hear all of their heartbeats just fine through the wall, and tears started to fill his eyes as the nurse opened the door to look at him.

She didn't need to say a word. Gajeel had already heard everything that had happened.


	8. MarriageLiving Together

**One month post wedding**

Things were supposed to change after couples got married. At least, that's what Macao and Wakaba told Lily as he looked for a job to take while Levy and Gajeel were off on their honeymoon.

"Don't worry there buddy, within a month they'll take their hands off each other. Ya just gotta hold off until then."

Lily didn't know whether it was bad for him to hope that his best friend's relationship started to stale, but the amount of nights that he had to spend at another guild member's house in order to get any semblance of sleep was just getting ridiculous now. Added to that the fact that more and more guild members were getting into relationships, and it was difficult to find one that didn't mind harboring him for the night. He assumed that after an entire month of having no one but each other to keep them company the two love birds would be able to stay apart for more than an hour, or at least tire themselves out, so the first time he got back to the house after they had returned he felt safe entering in the front door. He pushed the wood open with his back, his arms carrying enough groceries to last all three of them for a week, and almost ran into where Gajeel had propped Levy against the wall, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

Levy screamed as Gajeel pulled away, desperately tugging her skirt down to cover herself. Lily sighed. This wasn't anywhere near the first time this had happened. He simply walked through to the kitchen, left the groceries on the side and left through the back door.

"I'll be back to make food in an hour. Consider this fair warning."

 **Three months post wedding**

Lily was sat at the bar at the guild, a glass of strong liquor in one hand as his head was rested on the other. Mira walked over to him, leaning on her elbows on the counter as she prepared to offer her advice. That's why she had come over, of course. To offer Lily advice. Not to get gossip, not at all.

"What's the matter, Pantherlily?"

Her voice was sweet enough to disguise her true intentions, and Lily almost fell for it. Almost. He took a sip out of his drink, before facing the takeover mage. At this point, he was far too drunk and far too angry to worry about the information he was about to give her.

"I walked into the garden earlier, and let's just say I discovered why Levy asked Droy to put all those twenty foot trees around the perimeter. They were fucking on the lawn. On the lawn, Mira."

The takeover mage only just managed to suppress her laughter, covering her mouth with her hand in a gesture she hoped Lily would think was just her trying to come up with a solution. Her plan didn't work. Lily knew exactly what she was doing.

"They're young and in love, Lily. I know it must be hard living with them, but it won't be long until they calm down and you'll have your house back again. You're free to come and live with me and Freed for a while if you want?"

Lily looked over at the rune mage, who didn't even attempt to hide his grimace at the suggestion. He wondered if Mira could feel the scowl that Freed was currently boring into the back of her head. The exceed sighed, finishing off his drink before standing up and heading out of the guild.

"Thanks for the suggestion, Mira, but I think I'll just go and stay with the exceeds for a while. Like you said, I don't think this can last for long."

 **Six months post wedding**

Lily lay in his bed, desperately trying to cover his ears to block out the noise coming from the room next to him. He had thought that Levy's announcement that she was expecting would slow down the constant screaming that he heard at night, but obviously not. Erza had been joking around with Levy about the benefits of having sex while pregnant, but Lily had assumed it was just that. Joking.

As soon as it was ridiculously apparent that he wasn't getting any sleep that night if he stayed there he opened up his window and jumped out, unfurling his wings as he flew away from the house.

Freed opened the door in a tank top and pajama bottoms, rubbing his eyes as he spotted the exceed stood on his porch. He sighed as he pulled the door fully open, allowing it to hit the wall as he stepped back and invited the exceed inside. Yet again he was cursing his girlfriend for extending the invitation three months ago, but he couldn't get too angry. The exceed made his way into the house without saying a word, heading towards the sofa as Freed turned around and made his way back up to his own bed. Unbeknownst to the other, both men hoped that this informal arrangement would end sooner rather than later.

 **Fifteen months post wedding**

Lily, like always, was the first one awake when one of the twins cried. This time it was Shutora, and he made his way through the hallway to the twins room. Grabbing a bottle from the fridge inside the door he shook it absentmindedly, activating a rune to heat it slightly before heading to pick up the young girl and cradle her in his arms. She was contented almost immediately, her screaming stopping as she ate and Lily chuckled. She was just like her father, placated by food. It wasn't long before Lily heard the door open, and turned to see Gajeel resting against the door frame. The Dragon Slayer had just managed to pull his boxers on, and he went to check on his son to make sure he hadn't awoken.

"I'm sorry, Lil'. For makin' ya put up with this. I love havin' ya here but, d'ya think ya might wanna stay somewhere else until the brats are a little older?"

Lily smirked, looking down at the now sleeping face of the baby in his arms. In the three months since the twins had arrived, Levy and Gajeel had been far too exhausted to interrupt his sleep with any funny business in the night.

"Don't worry about it, Gajeel. I think the twins and I will get on just fine…"

* * *

 **A/N - And that's it for this Gajevy Love Week! A massive thanks goes out to Gajeelswoman, who beta'd for me, and Kmmcm who is my wonderful blind tester for everything I do. I love both of you to the moon and back. Check out both of their work on Tumblr!**

 **If you've enjoyed these chapters, be sure to check out my two more long form fics, Iron and Paper (a Gajevy Fic) and Soul Squared (A Bixanna fic). I've also participated in the previous two Gajevy Love Weeks, and have a couple of one-shots if that's more your thing.**

 **See you for the next love week!**


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